Callum Wilson keeps Bournemouth on a high despite Huddersfield onslaught

Callum Wilson eludes his markers to head Bournemouth into an early lead against the run of play.
Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Eddie Howe used the words “uncomfortable” and “relief”, which pretty much said it all at the end of a game Huddersfield dominated but somehow came away from with nothing. For Howe and his Bournemouth players, who defended for their lives and spent much of the match without the ball, this was one of those occasions when the sound of the final whistle could not come soon enough.

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Huddersfield were terrific and on another day would easily have come away with a point, possibly all three, after outplaying Bournemouth. They enjoyed 66% possession and, remarkably, registered 23 shots compared with Bournemouth’s six. It was like an attack against defence training exercise at times as David Wagner’s side laid siege to the Bournemouth goal, pouring forward in search of the equaliser that never came.

That was down to a combination of Asmir Begovic’s excellent goalkeeping, some resolute Bournemouth defending in the second half and, as Wagner would later lament, Huddersfield’s profligacy in front of goal. Even more frustrating for their manager than all of that was the way his side found themselves two goals down after only 22 minutes.

Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser, who are turning into quite a double act, did the damage, both setting one another up on a night when Bournemouth ended a run of four successive defeats and reclaimed sixth spot. Wilson’s goal was his eighth of the season in the Premier League – only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored more – and Fraser has seven assists to his name.

Terence Kongolo pulls a goal back for Huddersfield after the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead. Photograph: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Yet from Wagner’s perspective both goals were preventable and that was his biggest annoyance. “We gave presents away, Christmas presents to Bournemouth, and this is why we didn’t deserve something out of this game,” he said. “And offensively we haven’t put the chances away. Then you can’t hope for something out of football matches. Yes, everything in between was good. It was a very good performance, we were brave, pressed them high, kept them away from our goal, created chances – good chances. But we gave easy goals away.”

That was all true but the outcome still felt harsh. Few teams will come to Bournemouth this season and control the game to such an extent that it felt as though Huddersfield had an extra player. “We always want the ball and it’s very unlike us at home to be without it for long periods,” Howe said.

“We respect Huddersfield a lot, I think they play a really good brand of football – they press very well. We got the dream start and looked in total control at that point but they threw caution to the wind, put a lot of bodies ahead of the ball and played very well. So credit to them for that. But credit to my players also for how we responded in that second half and how we managed to repel their aerial bombardment.”

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There were only five minutes gone when Bournemouth took the lead. Erik Durm was penalised for a foul on Josh King just outside the area – Wagner felt the decision was soft – and from the free-kick that followed Fraser picked out Wilson’s darting run towards the near post. Unmarked and played onside by Mathias Jørgensen, Wilson met a curling delivery with a thumping header.

Bournemouth’s second was a classic counterattack and totally against the run of play. King released Wilson in the inside-right channel and Huddersfield were left horribly exposed defensively. It was two against one in Bournemouth’s favour and a sweeping move ended with Wilson squaring to Fraser, who beat Jonas Lössl with a low left-foot shot.

That was the cue for a Huddersfield onslaught that saw Begovic deny Alex Pritchard, Laurent Depoitre and Aaron Mooy before Terence Kongolo finished off a game of head-tennis in the area by nodding home. Although King squandered a great chance to give Bournemouth some breathing space at the start of the second half, Huddersfield continued to threaten and it took another smart save from Begovic to keep out Mooy’s effort. “A big relief,” Howe said. “We had the lead and we just seemed to wobble. We were far too reactive.”